Product DescriptionCapture the glory of William Morris' designs in 6 exquisite appliqu, projects: quilts, cushions, and wallhangings. Mix and match more than 50 appliqu, motifs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Quilt Book
Quilt book was delivered in excellent condition and in a timely manner.The book and patterns are wonderful and I have already began to make a quilt using one of the patterns.

Love at first sight!
Just breathtaking! Beautiful designs, motivating ideas, detailed instructions, good quality printing. Last, but not least - there is bundle of patterns for all of the book projects. It's hard to let it out of hands :-) Worth every cent of the price and even more!

William Morris
This is just what I wanted. The book is very interesting, so is William Morris. I love doing Applique.

If you like Wm Morris this is for you
This book is for those of us who like to applique more than the simpler shapes and forms so often found in today's patterns. The results are truly gorgeous and it is a book which belongs in the library of anyone who does applique work!

Excellent addition to quilting library
I bought this book because it incorporated William Morris designs into quilting projects.I have not yet applied any of the design ideas but find the careful instructions for applique and practical tips really helpful in finishing off projects already started when I bought the book.I have read through the book twice as it is well written and once I pick it up, its hard to put down.
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William Morris passion
This is a wonderful book with full-page colour illustrations of William Morris designs.Having done a Michele Hill workshop this book has added fuel to my passion for quilting using WM designs and fabrics.

Disappointing color reproductions
Anyone interested in good color and sharp outlines should definitely avoid this book!Reproductionsare sometimes dull and outlines often fuzzy.Very disappointing.I returned it immediately.

Great sampling of Morris' work
I truly like this book! It is a 9.5" X 12.5" book in size, with 41 pages, 40 of which have full page with exception of 1" border designs. Only one pattern (Rose Pattern) is narrower. Copyright free designs for personal use, important! and very useful at the copy shop, because the printing is so good that one can extract and enlarge copies at will, this book will not let you down in that respect.Dover gives you wallpaper, tile, fabric & carpet patterns by photograph, very clear, as well as several tapestry designs photographed.Have already enlarged and traced the Cherwell design as well as the Acanthus leaves design for a future tapestry pattern.Perfect! Perfect! Perfect!

Product DescriptionThe World of Romance - being Contributions to The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, 1856 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by William Morris is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of William Morris then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good medieval fantasy stories
This book has short stories written in the 1850s that are set in medieval times, full of kings and queens and knights in armor and damsels in distress. Morris writes in a very florid manner, meaning that he likes to describe things in vivid detail. He also uses a bit of fantasy- time travel, shapeshifting, people suddenly appearing and disappearing, etc. He wrote these for a magazine he started up while in college, so the stories are intended for adults but I'm sure that kids will like them. Theintro says that in his later years he called these stories "crude" and "very young," which isn't surprising. If you don't like the first story don't bother reading further because they're all like that one.
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Product DescriptionWilliam Morris designed some of the finest wallpapers and fabrics of the 19th century, many of which are still in use today. This collection of beautiful drawings and designs evokes Morris' charm and genius, revealing how his ideas on the nature of art and its importance in everyday life have had a far-reaching impact on art and design. 104 illustrations, 99 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Small book with lovely designs
I love William Morris designs so this book is wonderful for me.The book is small and the designs are the typical William Morris fare - no surprises.

SMALL CUTE LITTLE BOOK
I discovered this little book by chance at a bookstore somewhere... and LOVED IT!
Purely visual and no, I do not think you need a magnifying lens to see the designs.... Lovely job!

Patterns
If you are looking for ideas on what to do, it is not a bad book.If you are looking for patterns on designs, this is not the book for you.This book is just a collection of some of his work, which is not what I was looking for.

small packages
This book has quality color reproductions covering a broad spectrum of Morris's work. I love it. However, I wish Phaidon had come out with the same book at a much larger scale in hardcover. The large book "WilliamMorris" edited by Linda Parry contains good visuals and a greatcollection of essays about him, so I would recommend that book instead ifyou are looking for something big and comprehensive. "Designs ofWilliam Morris" is very nice for the price, though, and makes a goodintroduction to his work.

Check out the dimensions of the book
This is basicly a picture book, but you will need a magnifying glass to look at many of the designs.Otherwise the content is fairly comprehensive.
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Product DescriptionPoet, pattern-designer, environmentalist and maker of fine books, William Morris (1834 96) was also a committed socialist and visionary writer, obsessively concerned with the struggle to achieve a perfect society on earth. News From Nowhere, one of the most significant English works on the theme of utopia, is the tale of William Guest, a Victorian who wakes one morning to find himself in the year 2102 and discovers a society that has changed beyond recognition into a pastoral paradise, in which all people live in blissful equality and contentment. A socialist masterpiece, News From Nowhere is a vision of a future free from capitalism, isolation and industrialisation. This volume also contains a wide selection of Morris's writings, lectures, journalism and letters, which expand upon the key themes of News From Nowhere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Timeless
Morris' dream was that the divisions between work, life and art would blur. He believed that industrial consumerism led to toil, inequality, environmental destruction and inferior products. He also insisted--in contradistinction to Edward Bellamy--that "the true incentive to useful and happy labour is and must be pleasure in the work itself" and that a free society is one where "the unit of administration [is] small enough for every citizen to feel himself responsible for its details, and be interested in them; that individual men cannot shuffle off the business of life on to the shoulders of an abstraction called the State, but must deal with it in conscious association with each other". I think his ideas are as important today as they were at the end of the 19th century.

Best part are the Lectures
I found this after I left school. I'll second the review below: his commentary on not mistaking life's work with a life's calling -- the damning criticism of the soul killing mass produced shoddy goods.

Delightful
"News from Nowhere" is a Utopian fantasy in strong reaction against the Industrial (factory) Capitalism of the time (1890s England).

It's like a cross between "Rip Van Winkle" and "Gulliver's Travels."William, the hero, goes to sleep in 1890s England (the powerhouse of rapacious Industrialism and Imperialism) and wakes up in a post-2000 England, where Industrialism is gone, and life is like heaven.

How has all this happened?Simple.People have given up the Ethic of Scarcity mentality, which says "Let him who does not work not eat"--which turns life into never-ending toil.And they have turned to an Ethic of "Follow Your Bliss."

This, naturally, has destroyed Industrial (factory) capitalism.

Morris believed that Industrial (factory) Capitalism, with its fierce division of labor and assembly-line techniques--although very efficient--was grotesque and dehumanizing.Like Marx, he believed that such a system turned workers into mere components of the machine--mechanical and highly expendable.

For workers, it made life repetitive and soul-killing (and body-killing) drudgery.And for consumers, it turned out floods of shoddy assembly-line trash--"goods" that were hardly good at all but unesthetic, cheap, throwaways.

Morris realized that Industrialism had traded quality for quantity, and it had given the wrong answer to Jesus' question, "What profiteth it a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?"

(Sound familiar?It is precisely what we have now.)

He wanted to change all that.And unlike the Marxian socialists, Morris did not see the factory system as inevitable.

He favored a more anarchist type of socialism.

In "News from Nowhere"--in the TRULY brave new world he envisions--there is no government (because people are quite capable of governing themselves and reaching mature agreements), there are no schools (because people instinctively learn what is useful and what interests them), and most of all there is no work, in the sense of toil and drudgery (because people do what they like, out of their own artistic gifts and interests).

As a result, people like their lives and they like other people.They are happy, and as a consequence healthy.They make things and do things not for profit but because they like doing them--and in the grand scheme of things, all necessary and beautiful things get done.

This is a marvelously charming book, and presents the (quite achievable) Anarchist Paradise in simple and concrete terms.

Artist and Socialist
Yes, I mean that with a capital S. The title story, "News from Nowhere", is a Socialist Utopia like Bellamy's "Looking Backward." In fact, Morris wrote an intro to Bellamy's brief book, and criticized it (gently) for not going far enough.

Morris' view of that happy future occupies about half of this thick compilation. It is an incredible Eden, where hale, hearty, and lovely people swing into everything with the greatest gusto. Morris' character, the Guest, arrives just when everyone is falling over themselves to row upstream for the privelege of baling hay. Through some Socialist magic, everyone has become beautiful, intelligent, and youthful. In fact Ellen, who takes a shine to the Guest, has such "beauty and cleverness and brightness" (her own words, p.223) that she lives out of town to avoid causing a ruckus among the young bucks there.

Outside of everyone's passion for good, hard labor (with the fear of some future shortage of sweaty work to go around), 'Nowhere' is most notable for the changes it has wrought on the English countryside. Since government no longer serves a Socialist need, the old trappings of power have been torn down. The one exception is the old Parliament building, which now serves as the transfer station between the producers of manure and its consumers - with a clear implication that little has changed.

Exchange of manure is about the most sophisticated social interaction, since Morris declares that "this is not an age of inventions. The last epoch did all that for us," (p.192) and they let more of the old knowledge slip away every year. Instead, his healthy and pastoral people work for love of work, and infuse some vague sense of art into whatever it was they were going on about. Issues of medical care are waved away under their general shiny health, despite the fact that pastoral, non-technological people filled their graveyards with women dying in childbirth.

The other half of this book is divided between a number of essays and lectures, most of which extol the Socialist ethos. About 120 pages of "Lectures" discuss design, and some few - with gritted teeth - acknowledge that science may deserve to exist. Yes, he tolerates those people in whom the desire to know burns most brightly. Mostly, however, "science" is something good for cleaning flue gas so the rural colors may shine more brightly.

Morris was a visionary. He was also a brilliant and driven man, a skilled artisan, and eloquent writer. Unfortunately, he was born into a good-sized estate, so never had to pay all that much attention to the fussy bits of how people put the bread on their tables. The disconnect between his plenty and the majority's need is painfully apparent, but not to himself.

The best-reasoned essay of the lot was the last, on the founding philosophy of his Kelmscott Press. He explained, in concrete terms, how he decided on the principles of artisanship of printing, and goes into some detail about how well-made text should appear. Much of what he said made sense, and much of the rest could be confirmed or denied by printing up a few pages and seeing what worked - the essence of his reviled "science."

Morris had a fine and wide-ranging mind. This book shows many of its aspects, but also shows many of its failings. I was happier thinking of him only as the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement.

//wiredweird

William Morris' salutary alternative to industrial dystopia
This edition focuses primarily upon William Morris' influential utopian romance News from Nowhere, and contains some useful notes for the reading of the text together with several other of his pieces relating to the themes of Earthly Paradise, the arts and crafts and the nature of work.

If News from Nowhere seems unfamiliar to most people now, it is perhaps not so much due to its age than to the many successful novels written since that warn of the perils of striving blindly toward some Brave New World ideal. Yet News from Nowhere was itself written partly as a reaction to one such industrial utopia, namely Edward Bellamy's `Looking Backward', and is perhaps more relevant today than at any time since its original publication in 1890. William Morris offers here a prophetic anticipation of the concerns of today's growing environmental and `anti-globalisation' movements.

Although others have presented Morris' ideas as backward and Luddite, such labelling imparts a misleading picture of his views. Indeed, far from being a 'Luddite' Morris was quick to embrace the innovative Jacquard loom in his own workshops - a programmable punch-card system for automated weaving, and one of the precursors of modern computing. The irony inherent in such a label will not be lost on those familiar with the history of the Luddites.

Rather than denouncing technology News from Nowhere sees a world so technologically and socially advanced that it has surpassed any need for the industrial technology of Capital, ably providing for its own happiness and wellbeing without it. Progressive and sustainable technology is woven so seamlessly into its idyllic tapestry that if you were to blink you would easily miss it. And this is exactly the point Morris was making about the appropriate use of technology. Unpolluting, smokeless furnaces and silently powered barges drift by almost unnoticed as a group of friends make their way gently along the Thames by rowing boat - another technology perfectly suited to their own immediate needs and fancies.

The power and beauty of Morris' novel does not lie simply in the descriptions of the material environment of its imaginary society. Morris' vision is never so shallow. He is concerned above all with the quality of life of its inhabitants and the forms of social organisation that bequeath them its benefits, and how this contrasts so starkly with the forces of coercion and seduction that govern our own society. The inhabitants that Morris describes with such convincing lucidity are nurtured in a social environment founded upon a resurgence of vernacular values and an abandonment of institutionalised forms of control and exploitation. The fire of Morris' polemic being eloquently voiced through the dialogues of old Hammond in the heart of the novel.

If you are interested in a serious and profound analysis of our own society and the development of a saner view of the world then News from Nowhere will provide you with many pertinent insights. A testimony to the prescience of his vision, written as it was almost one hundred years before the environmental revolution in thinking that swept the world in the late 1980's and beyond, Morris provides us here with a very timely view of an alternative future to that promised by our own society, leading us as it is towards the brink of ruinous global turmoil.

This long neglected novel won't fail to move the hearts of a new generation of readers who may be disillusioned with a life of stifling employment and meaningless industrial consumption.
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Product DescriptionA biography of William Morris - designer, writer and poet, and one of the founders of the socialist movement - which knits together the innumerable threads and themes of his life, some of them contradictory. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Well Written Biography
Fiona MacCarthy's background is in design, which brings a lovely perspective to her biography of Morris.MacCarthy also writes well, which is a plus in a book this size.She writes with affection for her subject,but without any of the bizarre idolatry with which some people approachMorris.He was a crashing bore as a poet, a mere amateur painter, a giftedfabric designer (but there are many gifted fabric designers), and aSocialist who knew only marginally more about what people actually do for aliving than did Ruskin.Nevertheless, Morris was a volcano of artisticactivity and heart-felt social ideas, and therein lay his genius. MacCarthy does an excellent job bringing Morris's genius to life in thisfirst rate biography.

The Final Biography on Morris
Most books about William Morris are like rainbows, filled with colorful images. Simply because he made so many wonderful and colorful embroideries, tapestries and patterns, and because color itself is something people like,and therefore buy.

This book doesn't have many colors inside, but itcontains many black and white photographs, that are of great interest forthose who like to read about William Morris and his time.And thecombination of text and photographs create so many images in your mind,that you forget about color.

For the same people, this is the the finalbook about William Morris and his life. It's not the book to buy, if youwant to know all about his printing of books in Kelmscott Press (there youhave to go for Peterson's books), but it's the book about all the otherstuff you want to know about Morris - and everything, you didn't know, youwould want to know.

Having spent more than 5 years on this matter, FionaMacCarthy has succeeded in making an extraordinary and therefore the finalbiography on William Morris.

More than 700 pages with more than 100pages of source and reference notes.

It's a book to read and to readagain and to use, when you're working with text about the period, the arts& crafts movement - or simply with Morris. Buy it, even if you don'thave the money - wear the old jacket another year. You won't regret.

Aslong as it's out of print, you have to go to the library, where you shouldtell them to order some more books, so they print more.
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Product DescriptionCapture a beautiful bouquet in your stitches! Celebrated for her glorious designs and exceptional talents, quilt artist Rosemary Makhan returns with more exquisite appliqué creations in five elegant new projects. Lush blossoms, twining vines, and graceful bluebirds come to life in colors inspired by authentic antique quilts.

· Take your hand-appliqué skills to a new level by learning Rosemary's special techniques

· Choose from large medallion quilts and smaller wall quilts that offer creative options for beginning and advanced appliquérs

· Rosemary Makhan is the author of Rose Sampler Supreme and Biblical Blocks, both from That Patchwork Place®

Stitch one of these magnificent quilts and create an heirloom of classic, timeless style. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

floral abundance book
Floral Abundance: Applique Designs Inspired by William Morris (That Patchwork Place)I ordered the above book from Amazon & was told to expect it on 29/06/08 and was so pleased & amazed that it was on my doorstep on that very day. What's more pleasing is that it was in perfect condition and very well protected by the way it was parcelled up.I will certainly trust & use Amazon again in the future. Tks.
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Product DescriptionPopular British needlework designer Beth Russsell presents--for the first time--20 needlepoint designs based on the original works of William Morris. With the help of beautiful photographs, the book reflects Morris's passion for the pre-industrial world as it evolved through the three stages of Morris's artistic development. 804-color photographs.Amazon.com ReviewMorris's exquisite design work--widely appreciated and foundin many museums--is generally beyond the reach of the general public.But if you've ever longed for a Morris chair or tapestry, this bookoffers the next best thing--Morris's designs adapted to needlepoint,each superbly charted and accompanied by beautiful photos of thefinished product. Although the information on basic techniques is wellpresented, these are intricate designs best attempted by those withsome needlepoint experience. The designs are so luscious, however,that even beginners may be inspired to practice in order to createthese lovely pieces. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Beth Russell' William Morris Needlepoint
The third of Beth Russell's needlepoint books features directions for making her Designer's Forum creations, such as pillows, chair seats, rugs and wall hangings. Her patterns are high quality, sophisticated copies of William Morris' Arts and Crafts designs which she makes easy to follow. She recommends specific, name brand materials, such as canvas and yarn and also illustrates stitch options and further directions for finishing. Her needlepoint kits are estimated to be the finest on the market today and her books offer an inexpensive way to duplicate these products for much less.

Beautiful Designs - Great Addition to Needlepoint Library
This book has several patterns that I plan on attempting in the next few projects.However, when I was considering the purchase of the book, I was unable to find a complete listing of the designs included in the book (always helpful when purchasing something like this).You can find part of the list, along with correspondeing pictures of the designs at the Beth Russell Needlepoint website under "Needlepoint Books."However, in an attempt to help other Amazon-ers, here is a list of the designs:

If there was any issue I have with the book, it would be that it showcases certain projects that are not in the book (specifically, the dog from her "Forest" collection).However, this is such a minor issue, it would not detract me in the least from giving the designs it does have 5 stars.

Magnificent
Beth Russell's adaptations of William Morris designs are nothing less than spectacular. I have completed the Peacock and the Lion and am just stunned by their beauty.

With that said, this is not the place for a beginner to learn needlepoint. The charts, although beautiful, are challenging and not easy to follow in that many of the colors differ only by a shade. Although this makes for wonderful needlepoint pieces, it can be difficult to distinguish between shades and determine where one begins and another ends. I found this to be particularly difficult in the many shades of blue and green in the Peacock. And, admittedly, I changed a few colors solely because of personal preference.

Gorgeous designs:Occasionally difficult charts
I'll start by saying that I LOVE Beth Russell's interpretations of Arts and Crafts designs in this book as well as her other two.She's chosen wonderful motifs and arranged them into lovely, unique needlepoint projects.I speak from experience, as I'm now working on my third project from her books, the orange border design shown on the cover of this volume, worked on large canvas to make a rug.I highly recommend all three books for lovers of needlepoint, other charted needlework, arts and crafts design, or William Morris.

This book is beautifully laid out and lovely to page through and read, but its loveliness is one of its downfalls:The charts are printed in full color, without utilizing symbols to indicate yarn colors.Although this choice makes the charts pleasant to look at, the subtle differences between yarn colors are sometimes very hard to see in the charts, making working from them difficult.I spent too much time squinting at the latest chart, making little pencil dots on it to differentiate between LIGHT grey green and MEDIUM-LIGHT grey green!

I'll be proud of the resulting product, and will forgive Russell's editorial choice.Do consider buying this book, but be prepared for some challenges in using it.

Rave review for William Morris Needlepoint
Beth Russell is a master at creating easy to follow charts for needlepoint projects.Her color changes are particularly easy to follow.Any figure, flower or section of her designs can easily be separated and converted for use wherever wanted.
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Product DescriptionTolkien fans who long for more of the same delight that they get from The Lord of the Rings will find it in the writings of William Morris, for it was he who created the literary style that J. R. R. Tolkien brought to such perfection in his tales. As a young man writing to his future wife, Tolkien mentioned the inspiration he was receiving from Morris:

"Amongst other work I am trying to turn one of the short stories [of the Finnish Kalevala] . . . into a short story somewhat on the lines of Morris’ romances with chunks of poetry in between."

Forty-six years later, Tolkien still remembered what he had learned from Morris:

"The Lord of the Rings was actually begun, as a separate thing, about 1937, and had reached the inn at Bree, before the shadow of the second war. . . . The Dead Marshes and the approaches to the Morannon owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme. They owe more to William Morris and his Huns and Romans, as in The House of the Wolfings or The Roots of the Mountains."

As The Lord of the Rings was being written, Tolkien's close friend, C. S. Lewis, wrote that Morris provides his readers with a "pleasure so inexhaustible that after twenty or fifty years of reading they find it worked so deeply into all their emotions as to defy analysis." In words that could apply equally well to Tolkien, he said:

It is indeed, this matter-of-factness . . . which lends to all of Morris's stories their somber air of conviction. Other stories have only scenery; his have geography. He is not concerned with 'painting' landscapes; he tells you the lie of the land, and then you paint the landscapes for yourself. To a reader long fed on the almost botanical and entomological niceties of much modern fiction . . . the effect is at first very pale and cold, but also fresh and spacious. No mountains in literature are as far away as distant mountains in Morris. The world of his imagining is as windy, as tangible, as resonant and three dimensional, as that of Scott and Homer.

If you enjoy what Tolkien wrote about Aragorn, if you admire the bravery of the Riders of Rohan, if you long for more tales of adventure in a vast and unspoiled wilderness, and if you wish that Tolkien had more to say about the courage of women or about romances between men and women, then you will be delighted by these two marvelous tales from the pen of the gifted William Morris. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Wonderful Story for Fantasy Fans
I was lucky enough to stumble across this book before the holidays, and promptly ordered it along with several other books that were influences to Tolkien.This book is the one I started with.It contains two stories, both of which are wonderfully written.They are written using an older form of English, but once you get used to the dialect you will become fully immersed in the story.

I gave this review 5-stars only because of how great the stories are.The formatting of this book is horrible.It is the size of a textbook with 2 columns per page.I think it would have been better using a standard paperback format, but this seems to be the only available edition out, so look past this and enjoy the amazing stories!

Good bargain
The Well Beyond The World's End is usually published in 2 volumes, so this edition includes the text of 3 books that would normally cost you about $42 if purchased separately.

The text is printed in two columns, as in a magazine.It's very readable and aesthetically pleasing (don't judge by the unfortunate cover).The only downside is that Morris originally published his books in an elaborate illuminated manuscript style (like [...]).Unfortunately no modern printing of Morris seems to include his gorgeous original format.On the plus side, this edition is definitely more readable.

As for the stories themselves, I think it's fair to say Tolkien (and to a degree C.S. Lewis) retained every innovation Morris made, more or less replacing him.It's likely that only hardcore Tolkien/Lewis fans will find these books worth reading.Compare Tolkien's Gandalf and his horse Shadowfax to 'The Well at the World's End' character Gandolf and the horse Silverfax.

The text is widely available free online (though it's not fun to read on a screen), so you might test a few pages before committing to a purchase: [...]
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Product DescriptionInternationally acclaimed for his compelling work in glass, William Morris approaches the demands of glassblowing and glass sculpting with an experimental eye and an innovative hand. Morris, who lives and works near Seattle, has collaborated with master glassblowers as well as renowned painters and sculptors in making art that is widely admired by artists, sought by collectors, and praised by critics. For him, glass is an endlessly intriguing material -- fragile yet timeless, preserving the spontaneity of the creative moment unlike any other medium.

In this strikingly handsome volume of recent work, Morris explores themes related to archaeology, animals, and the hunt. His Crows, Ravens, and Rhytons embody his intellectual interest in myth and ancient history, as well as his keenly intuitive understanding of the natural world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Beautiful Photographic Display
James Yood has captured William Morris's art form almost like being there. The photographic display shows the glass art in its best light. He has revealed the timeless beauty and power of a truely expectional artist. The size of the book allows incredible detail to show through - truely one of the best art books I have seen.

Outstanding Work By Morris and his Team
This is a stunning book, The photographs and details of these amazing pieces By Big Bill Morris and his incredibly talented team are breathtaking.As a glassblower myself, I can only imagine the degree of skill to fashion these pieces, let alone the colours that the team is able to achieve. (they're good!)I found myself unable to put this book down, I have been looking at it every day now for the last two weeks. It is a MUST have for anyone interested in Glass or fine Contemporary Art/Sculpture.

I understand that Morris is onto an entirely new series of work, I can hardly wait to see it.

Product DescriptionAccording to Wikipedia: "William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English architect, furniture and textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement. Born in Walthamstow in east London, Morris was educated at Marlborough and Oxford. In 1856, he became an apprentice to Gothic revival architect G. E. Street. That same year he founded the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, an outlet for his poetry and a forum for development of his theories of hand-craftsmanship in the decorative arts. In 1861, Morris founded a design firm in partnership with the artist Edward Burne-Jones, and the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti which had a profound impact on the decoration of churches and houses into the early 20th century. Morris's chief contribution was as a designer of repeating patterns for wallpapers and textiles, many based on a close observation of nature. He was also a major contributor to the resurgence of traditional textile arts and methods of production. Morris wrote and published poetry, fiction, and translations of ancient and medieval texts throughout his life. His best-known works include The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems (1858), The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball and the utopian News from Nowhere. Morris was an important figure in the emergence of socialism in Great Britain, founding the Socialist League in 1884, but breaking with the movement over goals and methods by the end of that decade. He devoted much of the rest of his life to the Kelmscott Press, which he founded in 1891. The 1896 Kelmscott edition of the Works of Geoffrey Chaucer is considered a masterpiece of book design." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

wonderful tale of strong women in dire straits
what must it have been like to have been a powerful, independent woman and to have read this epic fantasy in 1895, the year of its publication, twenty five years before women were given the vote in America?this epic of powerful, able females (and the bonds of friendship which both bind and conflict them) is far more than a melodrama of its day, and William Morris was a visionary in his portrayal of, and obvious admiration for, strong women. Every bit as good as THE WELL AT THE WORLD'S END...with great women baddies, as well, and kind, generous, and faithful men....check it out!
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Product DescriptionWilliam Morris was one of the most influencial designers of the 19th century, and his appeal remains strong today. Many of his wallpaper, carpet, and textile patterns are still in production. Now, the life and work of this pioneer of the British Arts and Crafts Movement is fully analyzed for the first time in the most complete and multifaceted look at Morris ever published. 565 illustrations, 394 in color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must for collectors of Art Nouveau, glass, or textiles
I saw a copy of this book at the V&A museum store in London and did not buy it then because I thought it was too expensive. I had to wait 6 months to find one used for sale and was thrilled to get it, even though it was about the same price as the new one I passed up. I am overjoyed with this book, which is the best, most complete visualization of the beautiful and varied works of a gifted professional artist. The repeating wallpaper images are wonderful. Loved the biography part as well. You need a copy of this one, even if you have thinner offerings of his works.
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America's Premier Glass Artist
William Morris' Artifacts/Glass is inspiring, impressive, and visionary whether you are interested in glass or just interested in fine art.The photographs of Morris' work are beautiful, and the photographs of Morris' working on glass are just as beautiful!He's as nice a man as he is talented and creative, an inspired artist and thoughtful person.You won't regret having this glass art book in your collection of fine art books.
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Art Glass to Die for,.....
This is the most beautiful painting and sculpture- done in medium of Glass that I have ever seen- Mr. Morris draws upon pre-historyto paint upon glass the most vivid primitive paintings- I tried to place a scan of one of them - so everyone could see- but alas - could not... He also does sculptures of skeltetons - in glass -like ancient burial mounds- breathtaking- cliches dont do his work justice!
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Product DescriptionThis title takes a comprehensive look at Morris's gardens and flowers, setting out to shed new light on the life and work of this passionate yet practical individual. It looks at his childhood, his student days at Oxford before turning to his own homes and gardens such as Red House and the Abbey Works at Merton. Morris's own words and those of his daughter May show his very personal approach to flowers and gardens and how his ideas anticipated the theories of William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll. The final chapter takes a close look at Morris's use of flowers in his designs. Did he draw the flowers he knew and loved or did he instinctively rely on the timeless wood engravings in old herbals? His lectures on the use of twining stem and curling tendril are a lesson to pattern-makers still. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The flowers of William Morris
When I bought this book I was expecting pictures of flowers.Instead I end up reading a book on Mr. Morris' life.His love of flowers and wonderful drawings have made this book better than I could have imaginedit.
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Product DescriptionConsidered one of the most prominent actors of the Victorian era, William Morris (1843-1896) was a poet, artist, designer, and editor, and did not hesitate to express his socialist political views, which at the time were frowned upon by the estalishment.His encounters with Rossetti and Burne-Jones, as well as his religious studies, made him a man of manifold talents. From this mixture of genres, William Morris would go on to construct a remarkable career, applying his ideas through various enterprises he established under the name of the "William Morris Companies," revolutionizing both interior decorating and architecture. He quickly understood the advantage of industrial production techniques , which he used to design his creations. Together with John Ruskin, he also became a co-founder of the "Arts and Crafts" movement. Despite his admiration for Ruskin, he did not hesitate to publish his own poems in 1858 in his publishing house, Kelmscott Press.His fascination with the pre-Raphaelite painters lead him to push aside the canons of English art, and, under the influence of Ruskin, to launch the rediscovery of the medieval style of decoration.While drawing tapestries, carpets, glasswork, and other fine elements of interior decor, he became a fervent defender of socialism and participated actively in the Socialist Democratic Federation, which later became known as the Socialist League.William Morris transformed his dreams and ideals into the deeds that still inspire our admiration today.Through a series of illustrations, this work examines the scope of Morris's talent, which continues to have a major influence on our daily lives today. ... Read more

The first Edition of the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins detailed the fascinating and little known stories behind thousands of words and phrases that we use every day.In this new edition, William and Mary Morris update and expand their classic work to keep pace with our ever changing language.

Throughout the Morris's present the histories of intriguing expressions in an eminently entertaining and readable fashion.Amazon.com ReviewAnyone interested in the English language will be fascinatedby -- and then obsessed with -- this dictionary that reads like an erudite gossipcolumn for the city of words. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

How words and phrases become common useage
I've often wondered about the origins of some common words and phrases and the dictionary isn't sufficient for that purpose.The Morris volume that I purchased is right on target and a satisfactory source for most of our useage

A MUST HAVE BOOK!
A great informational book. Knowing where all the expressions we say came from. It is so much fun to read and start using sayings that you have never used before, and watch peoples faces look at you funny. :)

very good
this book not only does a very good job of giving the origins of many common (And lots of uncommon) words and phrases, put does it in a very entertaining way. The author has a great sense of humor and it comes across through his explanations.

Entertainment value that sticks with you through the years
I owned an earlier edition of this book and lost track of it some 30 years ago. I've been haunting bookstores for it ever since, but (duh) it only just occurred to me to search Amazon. Others are right, it's really not a reference book. It is simply an endlessly entertaining trove of interesting trivia about the source of our idioms.

Excellent reference for phrase origins
Just a short comment: I own several reference books on phrase etymology. This is the best of the bunch.
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Product DescriptionFor the Victorian sage William Morris, the subjects of art and society were inseparable. This outstanding collection of 11 lectures and an essay, delivered between 1881 and 1896, illustrates Morris’s conviction that the primary human pleasure lies in making and using items of utility and beauty. Selections include: "Art: A Serious Thing," "Art Under Plutocracy," "Useful Work vs. Useless Toil," "The Dawn of a New Epoch," "Of the Origins of Ornamental Art," "The Society of the Future," and "The Present Outlook of Socialism." Introduction. Biographical Note. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Eleven Essays: Draw Your Own Conclusions
In WILLIAM MORRIS, Norman Kelvin edits eleven essays given by Morris over a period of several years, most of which deal with his view that art ought to somehow be above the sordid details of life.Several of his essays also relate to Morris' late in life conversion to Socialism.

English prose writers of the mid and late nineteenth century tended to focus on the humanistic ideals of the age.For Matthew Arnold, these ideals related to culture in the abstract.For John Henry Newman, it was to establish the parameters of the Anglican Church.And for William Morris, it was the fixing of art as a bulwark against what he saw as the crass commercialization that accompanied and followed the Industrial Age.Morris envisioned art as an entity that was absolutely essential for human progress.Ever since the first caveman etched the first wall painting on his cave wall, humanity had a very nearly unbroken line of artistic creation that empowered both artist and art lover.Morris simply could not accept that any age could exist in which art was not paramount in the minds of all who dared to call themselves cultured.This unbroken line of artistic supremacy showed the first cracks, oddly enough, in the Renaissance, an era that most Eurocentric cultures termed the very height of prominence in art.Morris saw that the Renaissance created the paradox that art was then deemed so unworldly magnificent that there was no way for future generations of art and artists to go but downhill.By the time that Morris was old enough to realize this, he was despairing that perhaps it was too late to set matters aright.Nevertheless, he spent his entire adult life attempting to check what he saw as the artistic nihilism of what he termed the Century of Commerce.

Even as a child, Morris saw, however imperfectly, the flaws that he would later label as the decline in art.He saw part of the solution as a hearkening back to the past when knight errantry was inexorably intermingled with art.By the time he was eight, Morris had read the many novels of Walter Scott which portrayed the Middle Ages as some impossibly virtuous era when battling knights battled for reasons of art as least as often as they did for trapped damsels.At fourteen he enrolled in Marlborough College, where he absorbed an impressive amount of facts related to the history of architecture and medieval history.He was known as one who could spin extemporaneously short and long tales of the magic world of Spenser's fairy world.

He considered art too important to be left to the ignorant tendencies of manufacturers and other capitalists who saw art only in terms of how that art might lead to profit.In 1855, Morris founded a loose brotherhood of like-minded individuals who were determined to preserve what they saw as the inviolate sanctity of art freed from the grubbiness of profit-seekers.This brotherhood collectively wrote, edited, and published a monthly journal called the Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, which was to be a forum for their views on the primacy of art.The journal was well-written and included occasional pieces by the renowned artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.John Ruskin and Alfred Lloyd Tennyson lauded it publically. Despite these plaudits, the journal folded within one year even though Morris contributed out of his own pocket considerable sums.

Morris' views on art were not limited to one two or even three spheres of artistic expression.His early association with the Pre-Raphaelites headed by Rossetti convinced him that he had a promising future as a canvas artist.It did not take him long to learn that desire did not equate with talent and by 1859, that part of his obsession with art had ended.However, his sessions with Rossetti led to his meeting Jane Burden, a breathtakingly beautiful model who often was the subject of Rossetti's paintings.Morris married her where both lived in a house that he personally built from scratch.This Red House needed impromptu additions that Morris was only too glad to provide personally.As he was busy designing and building Red House, he evolved an artistic vision that he would retain for life:all art had to be subservient to utility and simplicity.The beauty of such art would reside in these latter qualities rather than in the nouveau-riche mode that he despised.

Red House, as with his earlier Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, had to be sold after only a few years due to limitations of Morris' capital.He and his wife found a more economical boarding house in London.His fortunes soon changed for the better due to the reformation of the Anglican Church by the Oxford Movement headed by Newman, who argued persuasively that the liberal non-ritual traditions of the church were inadequate to meet the changing needs of an English population that sought a return to the ritual and sacrament tradition of pre-eighteenth century church history.Suddenly there was a need for skilled artisans to produce exactly those artifacts for which Morris had a special talent.

While Morris was busy hammering out a wide assortment of crafts, he did not cease his decades long writings based on his fascination with the glories of past ages.Beginning with the publication of the popular poem "Defense of Guenevere" in 1858, his name was continually in the public's eye.Morris followed with the equally lauded poem "The Earthly Paradise," which dealt with life in the age of Chaucer.He later would write prose tales of Viking and Icelandic origin: the Grettis Saga (1869), the Volsunga Saga (1870), and Sigurd the Volsung (1876).

Morris was often asked to lecture on the primacy of art.He used these occasions to note that art need not be limited to canvas painting or sculpture.It should also include handicraft art, an area that would later prove a source of considerable profit for his manufacturing firm Kelmscott Manor House.One of his most anthologized of lectures was his The Beauty of Life (1882), which contained the core values of the primacy of art.Later in life, Morris assumed the world view of the committed Socialist.His perception of the inutility of commercialized art for capitalist purposes blended well with the Socialist thrust that all aspects of individual profit were too damaging to the souls of those who sought to remain above such grubby interests.His writings following his conversion to Socialism often reflect his aversion to the realities of the need for profit to engender the growth of any technological nation-state.Morris' life then was a function of his desire to place art on a pedestal where it could be admired by those who saw themselves as the inheritors of a culture that had been in decline for decades.Morris was determined to halt this decline.It is ironic that he envisioned the coming century as one that would exemplify his cherished hopes related to art.The viciousness of both world wars and the fragmentation of art would surely have filled him with despair.

William Morris spent the greater part of his adult life to preserve art from what he saw as the inevitable and corrosive encroachment of creeping capitalism.His early writings do not harp on the rhetoric of Marxist ideology; it took his later years of reading Marx to enable him to refine his position linking the dissolution of art with the baneful effects of life-denying industrialism.His overarching theme in many of his writings is that art and human life are commingled in a manner that suggests that the one cannot exist independently of the other.

"Beauty" by itself does not refer merely to that which the human mind finds aesthetically pleasing.Rather, it is a union of art and life.The art is the object that the human mind and hand creates out of base elements.When the times are right, the artist lives in an environment conducive to the fruition of that art as an immortal expression of all that is noblest within the human soul.Up until the Renaissance, all times in all cultures were fruitful in that sense.From the Renaissance until Morris' own day, art has devolved from a unique and original flowering of the mind of the artist to a time when art is now perceived only as a pale imitation or "pretense" of what it used to be.It is almost irrelevant--at least from Morris' point of view--whether the art under discussion is of one type or another.He uses the term interchangeably throughout most of the essay.

The flip side of the art/beauty equation is how their fusion impacts on human life in general.Morris sees human beings as sentient creatures who need more than the basic drives of food and shelter to survive.He notes that even in Paleolothic times Cro-Magnon artists managed to evade saber-toothed tigers and mastodons long enough to etch on their cave walls the first primitive attempts to record their nascent desires to establish a paradigm of humanistic thought.Art has invigorated all cultures in all epochs precisely because it allowed human beings to picture a mode of thought external to the harsh realm of gritty existence.This realm was of the mind even if the body was needed to grope toward it.Art was consistently viewed as a model of beauty toward which one could approach but never quite attain.As the world's collective civilizations rose and fell, so roughly did their art.This pattern of rise and fall maintained a reasonably consistent dance of symmetry.Morris sees a tipping point occurring in the Renaissance.What caused the human side of the equation to change was its corresponding "life" side.Morris envisions the Renaissance as a period of such geometric growth of art that a pinnacle had been reached.Art presumably could go no higher.There was no longer a reason for artists to create new art.All that remained was for future generations of artists to modify, to codify, or otherwise to re-invent the same artistic wheel.There was no place for art to go but downhill.And since, in Morris' view, art and man march in lockstep, as art declines so must man.If art has come to be seen as no more than an effete reflection of its past eons of glory, so must man devolve into his brutish atavistic past.It is this dual de-evolution of man and art that Morris was determined to halt. His solution was first to change man's view of both himself and the world about him.The problem with man's desensitization was a serious one but not an irrevocable one.Man was capable of a spiritual regeneration but only if man could alter his view of himself and his environment.This alteration was to begin with his own living quarters.Morris notes his foundational dictum: Have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.If this philosophy were to be widely accepted, then all else needed for the reviving of man and art must follow.History has not yet borne out the wisdom of Morris' dictum.